Radiotherapy Research Paper

From surgery to radium exposure to such extremes as radiation therapy, as doctors’ knowledge of the varying types of cancer, and the expansion of medical research regarding cancer has changed, so has the preferred method of treatment. Doctors and researchers dedicated to studying cancer have led to a greater understanding of cancer development; consequently the development of treatments and cures that are more effective, less harmful, have fewer side effects, and in some cases serve to prevent the spread of cancer.

Radiation therapy is the ionization of atoms in tissues resulting in formation of highly reactive radicals in a well-defined, restricted volume (1). In other words, ionizing radiations are used to eradicate tumors and at the same time preserve structure and function of normal tissue. A limitation is prevented from being a problem. If bone marrow or neuronal cells are destroyed or injured, they do not regenerate. However, with radiation therapy, these cells are often saved from injury or destruction, unless the tumor is infecting bone marrow or neuronal cells. Today, radiation therapy is the most popular type of cancer therapy in use. It is used to treat one-half to two-thirds of all cancers, which translates to more than ten percent of the population

Radiation therapy employs high-energy beams to exterminate cancer cells. During radiation therapy, the patient lies flat on a table, and a bulky machine pilots the energy beam around the patient. The radiation will be aimed at the affected lymph nodes and the nearby area of nodes. Also, Radiation therapy includes side effects: fatigue, redness/burning of the skin, heart disease, stroke, thyroid problems, and other forms of

Treatment- Radiation treatment is the most common therapy/treatment for cancer. Its users high energy particles such as X-rays to destroy cancer cells. Killing the cancer cell, radiation treatment is also called radiotherapy, irradiation, or X-ray therapy.

So one of the advantages of using radio therapy is to kill the cancer cells that divide but the disadvantage here is that it might affect a dividing normal tissue cell and the damage to the normal cells will cause some unwanted side effect and this is another disadvantage for the radio therapy but it is always been a balance between minimizing the damage to the normal cells and destroying the cancer ones.

Radiation therapy is the use special machines to convey high-energy rays that damage cancer cells and stop them from growing. The radiation can be directed to a specific area of the body or the whole body. Some side effects that come from the therapy are fatigue, hair loss, nausea, or red, dry, itchy skin.

- Radiotherapy: This involves the use of high energy rays {radiation} to kill the cancer cells and debulk {shrink} tumors. The radiation is directed only at the affected area of the body to kill the cancer cells.

Radiation therapy can be used anywhere in the body to treat any kind of cancer. Depending on what type of radiation therapy, it can have some side effects. The most common ones include fatigue, hair loss near the treated area, and skin darkening in the area exposed to a beam of radiation. ("Radiation Therapy for Cancer,” 1) There are also safety concerns that patients have when they are treated with radiation therapy. Many people that receive radiation therapy treatment, worry about exposing family and love ones to radiation, as well as the side effects. Radiation effects on the normal tissues are divided into acute and chronic effects (Schreiber). Acute effects occur during the course of therapy and during the post therapy period (approximately 2-3 weeks after the completion of a course of irradiation) (Schreiber).

When a person has cancer, their cells divide uncontrollably because of changes in their DNA, forming tumours: these are group of abnormal cells that form growths. Rapidly dividing cells are particularly vulnerable to the effect of ionising radiation. By directing high energy X-rays at the tumours, the cancerous cells get deeply damaged.This cancer treatment is called radiotherapy.

Radiotherapy, also called radiation therapy, is the treatment of cancer and other diseases with radiation. Radiotherapy is used when the entire primary tumor cannot be surgically removed. Radiotherapy deposits energy

Today, radiotherapy can be used to shrink or cure early stage cancers, to prevent cancer from recurring, and to treat the symptoms caused by late stage cancer. There are various different types of radiation therapy available today, each with different advantages and disadvantages. It is important to be familiar with the different techniques in order to provide the most effective treatment to cancer

The aim of cancer treatment is to eradicate and destroy the cancer cell from the body without any negative effect to the patient (Sudhakar, 2009). Nowadays, the most conventional treatment for this cancer disease is surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Surgery basically is a process to remove the cancer cell from the body. This treatment often required chemotherapy and radiotherapy as complement to ensure the complete removal of cancer cell.

Radiotherapy is a form of treatment where the use of radiation energy is employed to destroy cancerous cells, stop the progression of cancer, and/or to encourage remission. This kind of therapy is usually combined with cancer medication to increase the aggressiveness and effectiveness of the treatment (Desantis et al., 2014). Radiotherapy is introduced at different stages of cancer depending on its type. For instance, in breast cancer, radiotherapy is used simultaneously with chemotherapy as soon as the diagnosis is made. Surgery can also be recommended in many cases and use as a combination of treatments. Surgery could be use not only as a treatment option, but also for diagnosis, staging and prevention (ACS,

Radiosurgery was initially developed in 1951, and has had a long period of refinement. Its meta-analysis control rate is 98% for small tumors, while the overall average is 96% (“Advancements in Radiosurgery”). It is different from regular forms of surgery because it uses beams of radiation as directed and mapped out by a computer, whereas regular surgery involves actual incisions and the opening of the body. It works by specifically targeting an area to concentrate the radiation and eliminate or reduce the radiation to surrounding areas of the body,

Radiotherapy was the first method non-surgical method used to cure cancer around 100 years ago and was, up until recently, the most common way to do so (http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/content/68/21/8643.full.html). The basis is simple, an ionising beam is fired at the tumorous cells to alter those cells DNA. The mutations are fatal and the cells die, therefore curing the cancer, however many healthy cells around that tumour also get mutated and can also die in the process so there can be some severe side effects from radiotherapy. Chemotherapy was invented around 40 years later (same guy unfortunately to link) in 1935 but due to lack of progress it was dismissed until the 1960’s when there was proof that it actually could cure cancer and not just relieve certain symptoms but do nothing else. Whilst radiotherapy is still the most common treatment of cancers chemotherapy is now a treatment almost everyone will have heard of and is a growing field in an attempt to cure cancer with various drugs while minimising the side effects some of these drugs can have. However vary rarely are these treatments used as standalone treatments nowadays, combining the above techniques in different ways to ensure total removal of the cancerous cells. This method is called